Pennsylvania Dutch

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.

This debut mystery introduces Magdalena Yoder, prim, proper, and persnickety proprietor of the PennDutch Inn, where guests luxuriate in the true "Amish experience," (read: doing Magdalena's chores and paying top dollar for the opportunity!).

When one of her more reclusive guests takes a tumble down the PennDutch's picturesquely steep staircase and breaks his neck, the timing couldn't be worse. It's the start of hunting season - and her inn is packed to capacity!

Magdalena Yoder, chaste and abstemious proprietor of the Pennsylvania Dutch Inn, agrees to let a Hollywood crew film at the inn. But when the assistant director is found pinned to a barn post with a farming tool, dimwitted local police chief Marvin Stoltzfus fingers Magdalena as his prime suspect. Now it's time for Magdalena to use her extraordinary Amish sleuthing skills to reveal the real killer.